Morton was a young man in the 20th century who, despite his poverty, had noble aspirations. He came from three generations of impoverished peasants, commonly known as "poor."

But this could not hinder Morton's ambitious spirit. He decided to start from scratch and work hard to earn a net worth of five million.

And today was the time he decided to strike. Morton had circled this bank many times, making sure the location was safe and that there wouldn't be too many people around.

Morton pulled down his hat brim, checked the things in his pocket, and with a grim set of his jaw, walked into the shop next to the bank.

"Boss! One bet on double ball."

Morton pulled out two one-dollar coins and placed them before the shopkeeper.

"Good luck with the draw tonight."

The boss, with a smile on his face, handed Morton a printed lottery ticket.

Night had fallen, and it was already 9:20.

Morton refreshed his phone again and again, waiting for the draw results. Five million in assets was riding on this one gamble.

Every time the lottery draw took place, Morton was in the most agonizing state. To watch his fortune dwindle by five million, no, five million and two, with his own eyes was utterly cruel.

But for the sake of his past dreams, these pains were something he had to bear.

"Ding!"

A pop-up window appeared on the lottery app, announcing the winning information.

"No"

Suddenly, a scream of anguish came from the rented house.

"My five million and two yuan!"

Meanwhile, a thick wave of resentment surged across the land of Shenzhou, reaching millions in number. These millions of resentments, inexplicably drawn by some divine power, refused to dissipate, converging in the sky to form a pattern resembling a deity. The divine pattern flickered several times before vanishing instantly.

……………………

Mortton only felt a splitting headache, wanting to open his eyes, but he couldn't open them no matter how hard he tried.

In the darkness, scenes flickered through my mind like a dream, yet so real.

In this dream, he met a man from the Tang Dynasty. His father, Mo Lie, was a disciple of the Mohist school and the commander of Li Shimin's Divine Workshop Camp. During the process of Li Tang unifying the country, Mo Lie cleared mountains and built bridges when encountering water, always charging at the forefront and repeatedly allowing Li Shimin to gain an advantage in battle, making great contributions.

Unfortunately, Mo Liefu's good fortune was shallow. By the time the Tang Dynasty unified China, he was unable to enjoy wealth and honor. Years of warfare had taken a toll on him, and he died young from his injuries, leaving behind an empty title of county marquis for Mo Dun, a man who shared his name and surname.

"No." Morton awoke with a jolt.

How could this feeling be so clear, as if I had experienced it myself?

Morton suddenly sat up, pulling the blanket off his head. The sight before him made him speechless.

The rental he used to live in is gone, replaced by a classical room with wooden doors, a wooden bed, wooden windows, and wooden walls.

In other words, this room's style is very, um, very ancient!

Morton's intelligence was on edge, everything before him was strange yet familiar. Scenes of memory flashed before his eyes, the dreamlike setting appearing clearly in his mind, as if two souls were constantly overlapping and finally merging in front of him.

"Could it be that I really traveled to the Tang Dynasty!" Mo Dun's heart was filled with an increasingly insane fantasy.

"This can't be possible, Morton's entire body trembled with disbelief. He had lost five million and two ounces, but he had somehow won the biggest lottery in the entire universe...and it was a ticket to travel through time!"

He traveled back in time to the Tang Dynasty, becoming a fallen nobleman during the reign of Emperor Taizong.

Looking into the mirror at his face, so incredibly similar to his own, Merton still felt like he was dreaming.

After a long time, Morton finally calmed down. He thought, "Since I'm here, then let me make the best of it. Besides, I arrived during the Tang Dynasty, one of the greatest periods in Chinese history. It doesn't seem like such a bad thing."

As if to confirm Merton's conjecture, the door creaked open and a girl of fifteen or sixteen, dressed in a purple robe, walked in. In Merton's memory, she was his maid, and he named her Zi because of her purple attire.

Zi grew up with Mo Tun since they were young, and Wei usually took care of Mo Tun. Unfortunately, before, Mo Tun had focused all his thoughts on Chang'an City and didn't pay attention to Zi by his side.

According to Mo Dun's current thinking, Zi Zhi also has eighty points, this is still under the premise of not growing up. In a few years, it will be a scourge of the country and the people.

Merton's happy life seemed to have just begun. He had unexpectedly gained a title and now had beautiful servants attending to him.

However, Morton's dream didn't last even a second before being shattered by Zi Wu.

"Grandpa, it's bad! Uncle Li has arrived at the Mo Residence. You need to hide quickly, or you'll get beaten again!" Zi Shen said anxiously.

"Getting beaten up?" Morton's face immediately turned dark, and at the same time, terrifying memories of his uncle Li surged into his mind like water.

Once, twice, …, many times.

It's too many to count.

"Don't talk nonsense, Uncle Li is so fond of me how could he possibly beat me?" Mo Dun said with a dry smile, but honestly shivered.

"Grandfather, you've forgotten, this year our Mojia Village suffered a large-scale disaster. The grain harvest was halved, and everyone is waiting for you to go to Chang'an City to receive the Duke's offerings to get through this hardship? But you spent all the money? Li Ershu probably knows about this." Zi said with worry etched across his face.

"Uh!"

Morton only remembered the details of this incident from Ling's memories. Morton's father had died early and hadn't left him much wealth.

In addition, some soldiers who had followed Mo Xie in the past came to settle in Mojia Village after their retirement, which led to a rapid increase in the population of Mojia Village.

And they were disciples of the Mohist school, who were naturally at odds with the Confucian school. The officials in charge of enfeoffment secretly played tricks and directly designated these thousand households as the estate of Mo Lie, resulting in Mo Lie's rank not being the highest. However, he was the only minister among all the ministers who truly had a fiefdom of a thousand households.

Although a large population is a good thing, the rewarded farmland was secretly sabotaged. People were given only barren land. In this era, food production was low, and Mojia Village, being close to Shibie Valley with its low-lying terrain, frequently suffered from drought and flooding disasters. It was typical saline-alkali soil, with already low crop yields even in normal times. This year, being a disaster year, made things even worse, causing a sharp decrease in food production, which was not enough to support over a thousand households.

All the people of Mojia Village relied on Mo Dun's stipend brought from Chang'an City to exchange for food. But Mo Dun, who cared about appearances, encountered a group of dissolute friends in Chang'an City after which he squandered the stipend and returned home drunk.

"Mo Dun, you good-for-nothing, get out here!" A roar of anger came from outside the room. Hearing this familiar voice, Mo Dun's heart skipped a beat. This was Li Yi, his father's second in command.

After Mo Xie's death, the entire Mojia Village was managed by Li Yi, including Mo Dun.

Since Molie's death, Li Yi has been especially harsh on him. In his daily life, Mo Dun is most afraid of him.

"Li lao di, calm down. Grandpa is still young, there's no need to be so angry." Fu Shu's voice came over.

Uncle Fu is also an elder who worked in the Divine Craftsman's Workshop, but he retired due to injury. Later, he became the housekeeper for the Mohist school and has always been loyal to them.

"Old Fu, don't stop me! I must teach this little punk a lesson today. He dared to joke about the lives of all the villagers and squandered all the wages he brought back."

"Grandpa, what should we do! If Li Er Ye finds out, he'll definitely punish you. You better hide quickly!" Zi said anxiously.

Based on past experience, Morton has probably run miles away by now. He'll come back after Li's anger cools down.

But Morton was no longer the weakling he used to be. This time, instead of running away, he straightened his clothes and walked out the door.

"Grandpa!" Zi exclaimed, worriedly hurrying after him.

Outside the door, a thin, pale middle-aged man in a laundryman's uniform was rushing inside. While Uncle Fu tried to reason with him and stop him at the same time, he saw Morton come out of the room, and the two were instantly stunned.

"Uncle Fu, Second Uncle!"

Moreton took a deep breath of cold air, exhaling a plume of white vapor, and greeted them as if nothing was amiss.

Not until Morton bowed did the two of them finally part.

"Yes, sir!" Uncle Fu replied.

"You little brat, do you know the trouble you've gotten yourself into?" Li Yi roared, his walking stick raised high, but he didn't bring it down.

Because he saw that Morton seemed different. Morton used to be very afraid of him, but now Morton was surprisingly calm and no longer showed the fear and timidity he used to have.

"Uncle Er, you don't know yet! The food prices in Chang'an City have already risen fivefold. With just that meager salary, it was barely enough to support even a small village, let alone feed thousands of people in Mojia Village," Mo Dun said.

"But that doesn't mean you can squander everything. At least some of the food should be saved for better times." Li Yi shouted angrily.

Fu Bo Zhanged his face, looked at Li Yi, then glanced at Morton, and finally sighed with a bitter sigh.

Mo Lie's rank was not high nor low, a county marquis. In Chang'an City, he wasn't particularly noticeable. When passed down to Mo Dun, it was reduced by one level to county duke. The already meager stipend decreased further.

Adding to that, the population of Mojia Village was already substantial, a genuine thousand households. After several years of living and thriving there, the population had exploded, exceeding the amount of food they could produce. Besides, those stipends originally belonged to Mo Dun, and now that he's spent the money, what qualifications does he have to blame anyone?

For a moment, Li Yi fell silent, his heart heavy with sorrow. Thinking of the thousands of people in the village who were short on food, and that it was already October, he couldn't help but feel pain at the thought of how they would survive the coming winter. But just then, a voice startled him and made him look up.

"Since I made the mistake, I will make amends. This winter, I guarantee that no villager will die or freeze to death," Morton said solemnly.

"Now I want to know, just how poor is Mojia Village!"